


Let me take care of you

by Everlarked



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M, Post-Mockingjay, Pre-Epilogue Mockingjay, everlark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 08:59:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2304068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Everlarked/pseuds/Everlarked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peeta and Katniss are married and they have their first child, Willow. She and Haymitch get along pretty well. he babysits her when Peeta and Katniss go to the lake for picnic and more...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let me take care of you

**Author's Note:**

> This drabble is written for an Everlark Drabble Challenge on tumbrl with the prompt 'Let me take care of you'  
> Disclaimer: I don't own THG

The day came when Katniss told me she was ready for it. She wanted it too. A Child. I was so happy, had already given up on the idea. Never thought she’d change her mind about that, but she did. She stopped with taking birth control pills, provided by the Capitol, and only a month after that she told me she was pregnant.  
The pregnancy went well and I was really excited. I build a crib and other furniture for the baby room, Haymitch helped me. I painted animals on the walls, pigs and ducks and stuff. Delly pointed out how much they were like the once I used to draw on the sidewalk when we were kids.  
Katniss was having more trouble. Anxiety and fear overwhelmed her. Her nightmares increased. She told me she was so afraid to love, because it would hurt so much if she’d lost the one she loved. Remembering Prim and the pain of her loss. I would just hold her in my arms and rock her slowly, until she finally relaxed again. Telling her she was safe was a ridiculous thing to say, she didn’t believe that for a second. So I just hold her and kissed her until she fell asleep again.  
After nine months the day arrived that our beautiful daughter came to the world. We called her Willow, after the tree. She was especially presenting the soft velvet of the catkins. So beautiful. Her eyes were a bright blue, like mine. But her hair dark as Katniss’s.

XXX

Now our family of two (with Haymitch as an extra), has expanded to three. Willow is truly amazing. As a baby she was easy, she didn’t cry much and laughed easily. Now she’s about one and a half years old and just started walking. We have to keep an eye on her all the time. The other day she threw over the fence that pens in Haymitch’s geese. They ran in every direction and it took him more than an hour to get them all back. All that time he was complaining about our lack of skill when it comes to raising a child. He loves her though, almost as much as we do. “Hayhay.” That’s what she calls him. She learned that word sooner than mommy or daddy. Probably because Katniss is daily yelling at him about his geese.   
“Haymitch, they ran away again!”   
And Willow copies everything her mother does. “Hayhay,” she would call after Katniss and Haymitch would give her one of his rare smiles. “Willowy,” he’d reply and she would roar with laughter.   
Then he’d come over and chase her through the grass. And Katniss’s face would light up as well. Haymitch is really doing better since Willow came into our world. He drinks next to nothing and has some structure in his live, because he joins us daily for dinner now.  
And Katniss and I can still have some time with just the two of us because he’s a perfect babysitter.  
“No alcohol!” Katniss always says on these occasions. 

XXX

It’s Sunday, the bakery is closed and Katniss and I go out for a hike in the woods, leaving Willow with Haymitch. We often visit the lake and that’s what we do today as well. It’s quite a long walk, but the weather is great. The sun shines and it’s warm, for early spring.   
When we arrive at the lake we have a picnic. After that Katniss takes off her shoes and wades in the water.  
“Isn’t it too cold?” I ask.  
“No it’s great,” she smiles, “It’s much warmer than you’d expect. Come on in!”  
I take of my shoes and my pants as well and walk into the water. There’s the strange sensation of only my right foot feeling the water until I’m deep enough and it’s up to my knees. “It’s really not cold!” I say.   
Katniss laughs and takes off her own pants as well and comes crashing through the water towards me. I spread my arms to catch her but she moves too fast and the ground is uneven. I lose my balance and fall backwards in the water. Holding Katniss in my arms so she goes down with me.   
Soaking wet we surface again, laughing so hard it gives me cramps in my stomach.  
We wade out of the water and strip our wet clothes off.  
“Thankfully it’s warm enough today,” Katniss murmurs in my ears. The next moment her mouth is pressed on mine and we kiss intensely. I part her lips with mine and my tongue invades her mouth, stroking languidly over her teeth, darting around her tongue. Katniss shifts and goes to sit on my lap. My hands travel down her bare back, pressing her naked body to mine. She wraps her legs around my waist, her hands in my hair.   
Making love to Katniss is amazing every time. It always feels like it’s the first time. She’s so beautiful, so wonderful. So soft under my hands and my lips. So warm and open. It astounds me over and over again.   
After, we lie wrapped around each other on the picnic blanket. Katniss with her head on my chest, her hand trailing over my stomach.  
“I forgot to tell you,” she whispers, “I’ve quit taking the pills.”  
“What?” I ask, not sure what she’s talking about.  
“The birth control pills.” Katniss explains, “I thought it would be nice for Willow to have a brother or sister.”  
“Really?” I ask and I lift my head to look in her eyes. “Are you serious?”  
“Of course I’m serious,” she smiles as she sees the astonishment on my face. I take her face in both my hands and kiss her on her lips again. “I love you, you know that, right?”  
“I know,” she whispers, “I love you too.”

XXX

It’s a couple of weeks later when I return from the bakery and find a crying Willow on the stairs in front of the house. I pick her up in my arms, concerned, “What’s wrong, honey, where’s mommy?” I ask. She doesn’t answer but throws her little arms around my neck and buries her face in my hair. Really worried now I enter the house, “Katniss!” I yell, “Where are you?”  
No one answers and I rush through the house to finally find her in the bathroom, unconscious on the floor. I sink down on my knees, notice the blood coming out of a gaping head wound. My heart is pounding in my throat as I’m jolted back in time to that scary evening in the cave. I place my fingers on her neck to check her pulse and feel the drumming of her heartbeat against my fingertips. Willow, still on my arm, starts to cry even harder. Through the open window I see Haymitch staggering around with his geese. Anger courses through me because he didn’t hear Willow cry, but that’s a moot point now. So I yell through the open window, “Haymitch! I need you here!” He must have seen the fear in my eyes because it only takes him seconds to arrive in the bathroom. In the meantime I’ve found the first aid kit and try to roll out the bandages with one hand. All the while trying to calm Willow down, which isn’t working because I’m upset myself and she senses it. “Haymitch, take her,” I say, as soon as he arrives and I hand her over to him. Finally my hands free I sit down on the cold bathroom tiles and take Katniss’s head in my lap. I start cleaning the wound and see it’s not deep. Carefully I smear some antiseptic on it and bandage her head. In the mean time Haymitch has taken Willow downstairs and managed to calm her down.

I get up and gently lift Katniss in my arms and carry her to the bedroom. Once she’s lying in the bed the energy leaves my body and I sink down in the chair next to the bed. Bury my face in my hands. She’s going to be okay, I tell myself, it’s nothing major, just a small wound.  
But I’m eternally grateful when she opens her eyes again, only half an hour later. Shining silver meets me. “Hey,” I whisper, and caress her hand. “Good to see your eyes again.”  
“How long have I been out?” she asks. I smile at the memory, us exchanging those exact words during our first Games, after she woke from that other headwound.  
“I don’t know,” I say. “I came home from the bakery and found Willow crying on the stairs in front of the house. What happened?”  
“I… I don’t know. I told her to wait for me on those stairs, I went to get something from the bathroom.” She says, a frown appears between her eyes, “I can’t remember what it was but I felt so dizzy all of a sudden. I think I fainted and hit my head when I fell.”  
She tries to get up but I hold her back. “Let me take care of you,” I say, “Better rest a little bit more, you lost some blood.”   
She lies back into the cushions and closes her eyes. After a minute or so she opens them again and smiles at me. “I remember what it was I wanted to get,” she says, “I wanted to get a pregnancy test and wait for you to come home before I took it.”  
“You think you’re pregnant?” I ask and the joy that the idea brings me breaks through on my face.  
“I’m not sure,” she warns me, “But it would explain the dizziness.”

Haymitch comes into the room with a sleeping Willow on his arm. “I’ll put her to bed, okay?”   
I nod and he disappears into Willows bedroom. He returns a minute later, “You’re awake again, sweetheart?” he asks Katniss. She nods. “I slipped and fell,” she said. Haymitch mumbles something about his geese and leaves us be.  
“I want to try that test,” Katniss says to me.  
“Are you sure,” I say, “Maybe it’s too early to get up?”  
“I can manage peeing on a stick,” she smiles, “I’ll go straight back to bed after that, okay?”  
“Okay,” I say and help her to the bathroom and back to bed.   
The advanced tests they have nowadays can tell if you’re pregnant but also for how long. After a minute of waiting the strip tells us yes. Four weeks.  
“Four weeks,” Katniss says, “That was that time at the lake.”  
I smile at the memory and take her hand. “Are you up for it?”  
She nods slowly. “As long as you’re here with me.” She whispers.  
I stroke the back of her hand with my thumb and lift it to my face. Slowly I press my lips on her hand. “Always,” I whisper.


End file.
